Former Apple product leader creates security camera for cars

A new dashboard security camera may mean fewer punks will mess with your car.

Andy Hodge, who over a decade working at Apple helped create the iPod and the iPhone, has developed a “home-grade security” camera for your car — one that promises to take a video of anyone who sideswipes or tries to break into your ride.

The $299 product, called Owl Car Cam, is an LTE-connected, voice-controlled camera that mounts on your dashboard. The camera has an HD camera that points out toward the road, as well as one aimed at the vehicle’s occupants.

Hodge told The Post that he knew he was onto something after he and the Owl team conducted a survey of more than 2,000 people, asking if they had ever had a problem with a crash, dent or police stop. Of the 90 percent of respondents who said yes, 85 percent said they would have liked a video of the incident.

“We realized the car is a dangerous place that deserves better security,” Hodge said. “There’s a chance that we could be the right people to build something that makes it safer.”

When you’re driving, the camera is recording in the event of a fender bender or police stop. When you’re not in the vehicle, the camera is asleep, but wakes up when it senses something — or someone — coming in contact with your car.

In the event of a break-in, the Owl’s LED floodlights automatically turn on, capturing the crook on camera and enabling you to view the feed live.

But in designing the security camera, Hodge and his team found that testers were using it to capture more than accidents and police encounters — the Owl could also capture funny moments inside the car, as well as impressive vistas on seaside drives.

This led the Owl developers to introduce a feature that lets you tell your Owl to record, and it will capture a snippet and upload it to the cloud for easier viewing.

The Owl Car Cam carries an added $10 monthly fee for LTE connectivity.